A top of this kind is known from practice and serves as a displaceable roof of a convertible vehicle. For displacing the top between a closed position, in which the interior of the vehicle is covered, and a storage position, in which the interior is uncovered, the top has a top linkage which is minor-symmetrical with respect to a vertical longitudinal center plane of the top and has a link arrangement on either side, each link arrangement being mounted on a respective vehicle-attached main bearing. In the closed position, the top is fixed to a front cowl of the vehicle via a roof tip, the front cowl being formed by an upper framer part of a frame of a windshield, said upper frame part extending in the transverse direction of the vehicle. In a folding top having a flexible and foldable top cover, the roof tip is formed by a front bow, which is covered by the top cover. In a retractable hard top (RHT), the roof tip is formed by a rigid front-side roof shell, which also forms a portion of the outer skin of the vehicle roof. For securing the roof tip to the front cowl, the top comprises a top lock which can be displaced between a locked position and a release position and which comprises a locking support having a pivotable locking hook and a locking counterpart which can be engaged with the locking hook. The locking support is disposed on the roof tip or formed by the roof tip, whereas the locking counterpart, which can be engaged with the locking hook, is formed on the front cowl. Moreover, it is known for a top of this kind to have a position detector comprising a sensor that detects a relative position between the roof tip and the front cowl.
The object of the invention is to provide, in a compact fashion, a position detector for a top of the kind described above that is capable of detecting multiple relative positions between the roof tip and the front cowl.
According to the invention, this object is attained by a top having a top linkage for displacing the top between a closed position, in which a vehicle interior is covered, and a storage position, in which the vehicle interior is uncovered, a roof tip which is fixed to a front cowl of the vehicle in the closed position, a top lock which can be displaced between a locked position and a release position and secures the roof tip to the front cowl when the top is in the closed position and has a locking support having a pivotable locking hook and a locking counterpart which can be engaged with the locking hook, and a position detector which detects a relative position between the roof tip and the front cowl, wherein the position detector comprises a sensor unit having at least two Hall-effect sensor elements, one of which switches at a first distance between the sensor unit and a magnetic element and the other one of which switches at a second distance between the sensor unit and the magnetic element, the second distance being different from the first distance.
According to the invention, the position detector thus comprises a sensor unit having at least two Hall-effect sensor elements, one of which switches at a first distance between the sensor unit and a magnetic element and the other one of which switches at a second distance between the sensor unit and the magnetic element, the second distance being different from the first distance.
In the top according to the invention, the position detector thus has only one magnetic element for detecting at least two distances between a front cowl and a roof tip. Said magnetic element interacts with the at least two Hall-effect sensor elements, which are disposed in the sensor unit, which is mobile relative to the magnetic element. The switching distances of the two sensor elements are associated with different distances between the sensor unit and the magnetic element. Thus, a position detector is realized that requires only little installation space in the area of the front cowl and of the roof tip. Since only one magnetic element is needed and no micro switch or the like has to be applied, the number of parts to be integrated into the top for the position detector is small as well. The small number of parts also allows the position detector to be low-cost.
Preferably, the sensor unit, which is programmed in such a manner that at least two switching distances are realized using the at least two Hall-effect sensor elements, is connected to a controller of the top lock. In this case, the switching signals triggered when the magnetic element interacts with the Hall-effect sensor elements can in particular be used to actuate the top lock.